* The Jen Network *

"Well, she's always been weird, you know." Nathan shook his shaggy mane and smiled. "Always. Were you at that one party? With the hat and the octopus?"

"Yeah," David nodded slowly as he remembered 'that' party and other outrageous adventures with his aunt. "But this weird?" He slapped the paper he was holding. "Even Aunt Jenny had her limits. And her sanity..."

Nathan grabbed David's arm as a thought came to him, "Do you think it's another one of her jokes? Like those treasure hunt things?"

"... And that maybe there's another one hidden someplace?" David and Nathan shared somewhat hopeful looks for a moment before the paper was suddenly ripped from between them.

They looked up to see Gabe roll his eyes in frustration before he returned the paper to the pile on the desk. "Guys, we've been through all of her stuff and we've found a total of three paper wills and one online version. As they all agree with each other in every detail. If we care about inheriting or at the least in following her last wishes, I believe we are left with only one choice..."

Sam jumped up from his chair and planted his legs in a stance that his two older brothers knew meant that he wasn't going to be easily persuaded. "I am not, I repeat NOT, wearing some freaky costume from an insane 90s cartoon!" That particular stance and tone, in fact, combined with the look on his face, usually meant that the persuasion would end up being physically distributed. Nathan stretched his neck and flexed his shoulders.

"Been awhile since I've had a brawl... Good old Jenny. Always knew when I needed to let off a bit of emotional tension."

David raised an eyebrow and took a step back from his "cousins". He might be the same age as Sam, but he had no loyalties beyond that, and besides, he hadn't wrestled since high school. A small cough sounded from the couch in the corner and the four young men turned to eye the blue-eyed brown-haired man who'd been silent throughout the whole evening.

David, as always, took the initiative. "Mike? You said something?"

The oldest of the group gathered so far, Mike sighed, sounding as if it was an effort to maintain an identity separate from the familiar piece of tattered furniture where he'd spent most of the evening.

"I said, it's anime. Japanese animation... anime. It's not so much a cartoon as it is moving art," he paused a moment, cocked his head to the side and smirked. "Although Pokemon is not one of the best examples, except in it's popularity: it was one of the first to open up a mass market for the movement in the US."

If possible, Sam glared even harder. "I don't care. It's stupid and I'm not doing it." He folded his arms. "Why should we do something so silly at a funeral, anyway?"

David, Nathan, Gabe, and Mike looked at each other a moment, wearing identical grins. "Because she said so, that's why" they chorused as Sam rolled his eyes and heaved another sigh. He sank to the chair he'd claimed earlier in the day and nodded.

"Okay. Yeah. Jen was like that. But do we hafta wear costumes?!?" He wailed the question at the room in general, but Mike answered him.

"Well, if I remember, it says that we have to wear outfits from the show... isn't that right?" The others nodded and Mike's eyes gleamed with mischief. "Then all we have to do is find an episode where the characters are wearing clothes we like."

Nathan's face scrunched a bit as he tried to recall the few times as a boy that he'd watched the show with his favourite aunt. "But... weren't they all animals," he asked hesitantly.

Mike shook his head. "No. Pokemon had a number of human charactors. Although it was mainly about their animals." The men looked at him in disbelief.

"You, uh," Sam arched an eyebrow as he searched for the nicest way to say what the rest of the room was also thinking. "You seem to know quite a bit about Pokemon."

Mike shrugged and waved a hand. "I'm into anime. My dad was, too. It's great stuff, really, although I only know about kid ones like Pokemon like a chess player knows how to play checkers."

The other men continued to stare, and Mike drew himself up to his full height. "What?" he said defensively.

"Ahem. Yes. Well," David said, clearing his throat. "If we're gonna do this, we'd better get started. I think she's got a whole wall of old bootleg anime tapes in the library. Anyone know which ones are the Pokemon?" The room was eerily quiet and David's shoulders slumped. "This may take a while."

"You guys go ahead and get the machines set up," Gabe picked up the phone and started pressing digits. "I'll order up a couple of pizzas. Oh, wait..." He replaced the receiver and looked around the room. "What do we want on them?"